Chef Todd English first emerged as culinary star some 20 plus years ago. He is back in the forefront with a pair of high-profile projects.
Todd English and his partners are opening The English Hotel in Las Vegas this month. That was followed by the announcement that renowned celebrity chef and global entrepreneur Keith Burkard announced the formation of their newest joint venture, The English Hospitality Group, (EHG). EHG plans to open up a large food hall at the Stamford Town Center in Stamford, CT in early 2024.
The hotel is a 74-room, nongaming boutique property built from the ground up in the Arts District. It’s a ZLife Co. development project built by a California-based firm run by Weina Zhang and Anna Olin with celebrity chef and restauranteur English as the face of the property.
English’s Pepper Club, a Japanese and Mediterranean concept — is the cornerstone restaurant for the hotel. “I think a lot of locals will want to go here,” said English, who lives in Las Vegas. “This area kind of has an edge. You’re not in the burbs when you come down here. I spent a lot of years in New York, and I look at Brooklyn the same way.”
“Being in the heart of the quirky and colorful Arts District is precisely where the four-story English Hotel belongs, Olin said. Olin described Wednesday, as “more personable” than the stereotypical “over-the-top” Strip resort. The target market for the hotel is what she calls the “cultured renegade.”
“These aren’t the people going to the Strip trying to relive ‘The Hangover’ movie,” Olin said. “It’s also not the people looking at penny slots on Fremont Street. This is for people looking for a more unique, more authentic experience in Las Vegas. Tourists can come here and live Vegas like a local.”
The hotel is affiliated with Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio and will be managed by Sightline Hospitality, a San Francisco company. Nearly a dozen ground-floor specialty suites lead directly to an intimate pool area. “This is so exciting because it’s the first ever ground-up boutique hotel built in the Arts District,” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said at a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The developers first applied for a building permit with the city in late 2018. The cost for the project was north of $30 million. The Trident Construction Corp., a Las Vegas firm, served as the general contractor.
Trident and ZLife are also working together on a possible new apartment project just steps from the English Hotel, Zhang said. “There’s a lot of potential here in the Arts District and a lot of room for redevelopment,” said Jim Donofrio Jr., Trident’s owner and president. “We want to be part of that. This area is growing and will continue to grow. “
As for the food hall, it will take up 80,000 square feet over two floors in the mall, and feature rotating cuisines — like French, Mediterranean, Asian and classic American fare — to go along with immersive and dynamic art exhibitions from around the world.
“When you come to this food hall, you’re going to get an amazing culinary experience alongside an environment that has so many discovery viewings of art, of venues and scenes from around the world,” Burkard said. “We really want to elevate that experience at the Stamford Town Center.”
Burkard also said the space will lend itself to creators and influencers on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. As part of the facility, Burkard said EHG is working with the city of Stamford to set up ghost kitchens within the space, which will deliver Figs Pizza by Todd English, burgers from English’s Pound Burger, as well as things like chicken wings and sandwiches from celebrity chef Aaron May. Other celebrity chefs will have concepts for ghost kitchens as well, Burkard said.
Robotic food delivery within a 3-4 mile radius of the STC could become a reality, Burkard noted. “There’s a lot of that on the West Coast, and we want to be kind of the first company to bring it to Stamford as a sandbox site to test out a couple of different utilizations,” Burkard said.
Burkard said Stamford is the “perfect location” for the food hall and art exhibition, particularly because of the volume and traffic that flows through the city and I-95 on a daily basis. He hopes the space can be a destination for people not only locally, but in the tri-state area and even globally down the road.
“This project is going to have a very substantial impact on Stamford in general. We’re going to bring over 500 jobs to the market, and we’re going to invest over $20 million,” Burkard said.
EHG hopes to partner with a local university that might want to have a satellite campus at the STC to educate students on some of the design work and media components of the space, as well as general managing a large attraction.
A culinary academy from English could also benefit students, Burkard said. Burkard hopes EHG can create the next wave of hospitality with a model that’s community-driven. “We want everything to be a collaborative environment where everyone wins,” he said.
